FBI: Would-be Walmart bomber wanted 'carnage'

Updated 11:50 am, Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A recently released Shelton ex-con hoped to kill as many people as possible in a bombing of a Walmart store there, meant to cover up a series of bank robberies, according to federal prosecutors

Arrested Monday, Larry Gillette is alleged to have told an undercover police officer he hoped for "carnage" in the bombing of the Walmart and two nearby gas stations. Federal prosecutors claim Gillette, 53, tried to acquire a bomb and four pistols from an undercover officer during a sting operation.

Gillette is alleged to have shared his big idea with an undercover detective shortly after his April 14 release from the Washington Corrections Center, the Shelton prison where Gillette served time for identity theft.

Some Oregon Residents Upset at Prospect of Pumping Their Own GasBuzz 60

Doug Baldwin playcallingBy Michael-Shawn Dugar, SeattlePI

Van Crashes Into Pedestrians Injuring SixAssociated Press

US military to accept transgender recruits after Trump drops appealEuronews

Snow on Christmas Eve, 2017Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Ice carving at WinterfestSeattle Post-Intelligencer

Amtrak derails near OlympiaGrant Hindsley / SeattlePI

Golden retriever meets Darth Vader and EwokSeattle Post-Intelligencer

According to prosecutors, Gillette first told other prisoners about his plans to rob banks in Shelton during a bombing spree. Gillette is alleged to have plotted to blow up the city’s Walmart as well as several gas stations.

Wise to the ill-fated plot, a police officer attached to an FBI task force posed as a bomb and weapons dealer, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman said in a statement. Gillette is alleged to have met with the officer twice, receiving four disabled pistols as well as a fake car bomb.

Prosecutors contend Gillette was caught on tape detailing plans to set off the bombs and then rob three Shelton banks while police were busy.

More than a diversion, though, Gillette “wanted to kill as many individuals as possible” with the bombs, an FBI special agent said in court papers.

“Gillette stated he wanted the targeted Walmart leveled, and intentionally wanted the explosives placed in areas which would prompt secondary explosions causing more damage,” the agent said, recounting conversations between Gillette and the undercover police officers.

“He wanted ‘carnage,’” the agent continued, and had been planning the bombing for nine years.

That “carnage” was to extend to the bank robberies, where Gillette hoped to shoot several people at each bank before even making demands, according to the agent’s statement. He is alleged to have planned to shoot bank workers who didn’t comply or move quickly enough for his tastes.

Gillette was arrested Monday and has since been charged with solicitation to commit a violent crime and unlawful gun possession. He is expected to make an initial appearance Tuesday afternoon at U.S. District Court in Tacoma.